Mother uses Craigslist in hopes of paying off her military son's funeral

2012-08-17T02:59:31Z2013-05-15T04:34:33Z

The Craigslist ad put up by Brandon's mother.

Theresa Bowles

Brandon Bowles

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A mother is on a mission trying to raise money to cover her son's funeral costs. The 28-year-old marine was killed in a car accident after serving two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Brandon Bowles was not active at the time of his death, so the military will not pay for his funeral. Money is tight for his mother, so she decided to put an ad up on Craigslist asking for everyday items in hopes of paying off the debt it cost to bury her son.

"He was just one of those people, you walked in the room and you were just drawn to him," said Theresa Bowles, mother.

According to his mother, Brandon Bowles was the definition of a hero. "He brought many people to overcome challenges in their life and mentored many," said Bowles.

When he enlisted in the marines, that couldn't have been more true. Bowles thought after seeing her son go through two tours overseas and each time welcoming him home without a scratch, she thought there were big things planned for him when he started college in Texas.

That all changed in March.

"They felt he may have tried to swerve from hitting an animal or he possibly could have been texting. We don't know," said Bowles.

Brandon died in that car accident and this mother had to bury her son. The family went ahead and gave Brandon a proper funeral. The military was only able to provide a marker.

"You don't accept it," said Bowles. "You don't get over it."

What makes this even harder are the high costs she was left with more than $9000 of debt.

"But I'm strong and my son would want me to be strong, so I'm going to do what I need to do to live," said Bowles.

Bowles takes all donations and sells them at a booth at a Peddler's Mall on Preston Highway. She has plenty of pictures of Brandon there to tell his story.